Casual Style, Travel, and Home

DIY Upholstered Headboard with Nail Heads

As many of you know, I love a good DIY and a way to save money. So today’s DIY headboard post is both of those things wrapped into one. Now I know what you are thinking, “I would rather just pay the $400+ at the store for my headboard and call it a day.” Well, sure go right ahead, but what if I told you it only cost me $80 to make this headboard would you think twice about it? It is a fairly simple project to tackle and a huge savings to your wallet. Roll up your sleeves and follow along. Sorry for the lack of photos during the project as it was started before My Brunette Adventure blog was created. Please excuse the decor, still working on our master bedroom. Oh and I never make my bed! Never have seen the point, but for you I managed. 🙂

Supplies

*(2) 2X4’s

*(1) sheet of plywood (or another sturdy large wood sheet)

* handful of screws

*foam (i used two eggshell foam mattress pieces from Walmart)

*Upholstery Fabric (yardage depends on size of your headboard)

*batting

*Nail heads (these are the most expensive on this list, usually running $28 for a 5 yard package at JoAnns…I used a 60% coupon to score these for $9 a few weeks back!)

First, before buying any supplies, you will want to measure the width and heighth you would like your headboard. Some people prefer a headboard to go well below the mattress and others just enough to be covered. Others may also want it to be wider than the actual mattress. I have a king size bed and preferred it to go pretty far down to the frame of the bed.

After you have your measurements, you can now head to your local hardware store. Since we did not have a big truck to haul home a piece of large plywood, we had it cut down in the store. Most will do this for a small fee for you! You can see where my husband connected the two pieces with a 2X4 he had cut in half. The other 2X4 was used as the ‘legs’ to attach the headboard to the frame of the bed.

Once you have your wood either in one piece or in two pieces connected with the 2X4’s, you are ready to nail your foam to the wood. I used two double/queen eggshell foam bedding pieces from Walmart. I paid about $20 for both of them. Foam at the craft store can be pricey, but this was a way to save some money. Once I covered the ‘front’ of the headboard in foam (no eggshells facing up because you want a smooth texture), I then tightly wrapped batting over the top. Using the nail gun again to adhere the batting in place.

From here you can see the second ‘in progress’ photo showing the steps above. Make sure your fabric is clean and wrinkle free before using it on the headboard. You want a durable upholstery fabric. Now with your upholstery fabric you must tightly wrap the headboard. Make sure your corners are wrapped neatly and all edges go a few inches behind the front in order to look nice to the eye.

Next you will want to put the ‘legs’ on the headboard or you can chose to mount the headboard onto your wall if you chose. From here you will then add the nail head trim. Please measure and draw a faint line to keep correct spacing from your edge of the headboard to where the nail head trim will be placed. This will also help keep the trim in a straight line. Again, tightly adhere the trim to keep fabric in place and keep the headboard looking nice.

And just like that you have a nice looking headboard that cost you a fraction of the price and a simple DIY project for the home.